A few days ago I had the chance to travel to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and speak to a group of senior executives from IDG about engagement and online communities.
It was tremendous fun, as it always is when I meet with IDG folks.
Shortly after my return, Folio magazine broke a story saying that Teletype Co., a software firm that has accused Laptop magazine and the Audit Bureau of Circulations of inflating circulation numbers, has filed a similar lawsuit against IDG's PC World.
Longtime readers of this blog know that IDG is more than a client to me. Long before I ever made a penny with the company, I was a fan of much of what the people there have done. In a world such as B2B publishing, where I find far too many people of slow wit and questionable ethics, IDG represents all that is good about our industry. I have no reason to believe that anyone at IDG would do anything unprofessional. And I trust that my trust in the people at that company is not unfounded.
Given that, as I said in a comment on my friend Martha's blog a few moments ago, "I'm going to reserve judgment, for now, I'll assume that nothing unseemly has happened. I'm going to act as if this is just a misunderstanding of some kind. And I'll hope that if my optimism is unfounded and someone at IDG has done something wrong, that they are fired promptly."
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Friday, April 28, 2006
Poor use of rich data
Years ago when I worked at the shipping newspaper known as the Journal of Commerce, I was both fascinated and frustrated by the company's data product.
It was called PIERS. And it was full of information that made for compelling stories. But in one of those strange cultural disconnects that often happen at publishing companies, most of us in the editorial department weren't allowed to roam freely in the databases. We didn't have passwords. We couldn't get them.
Instead we had to submit a request to folks in the PIERS department, who would pull up the data we needed.
The end result, of course, was that we didn't ... couldn't ... take full advantage of PIERS. If we knew what we were looking for, we could request it. Thus our stories tended to have lots of good lists -- top imports at certain ports, etc. But we couldn't roam through the database itself. We couldn't play. We couldn't investigate. Thus we never "found" stories. We never stumbled serendipitously on to news.
I have a vague memory of asking for PIERS training and passwords and being told that the company didn't like to distribute the knowledge because of security concerns. Apparently the risk that someone could steal some of the data outweighed the chance that a reporter would use it.
Even more remarkable, I remember getting into an argument with someone at the company who didn't want to send copies of the transportation directories the company published to my office in Chicago. As much as I needed those lists of names and phone numbers to work my beat, this guy was worried about the postage. (I eventually convinced another reporter to steal a set and mail them to me.)
Years later I found myself working at Bloomberg News, where I found a very different situation. Bloomberg, wisely, made sure that every journalist in the company knew how to operate in the company's endless databases of financial information. And nearly every story ended with a "tour" -- a series of on-screen charts and graphics generated from Bloomberg data.
The result, of course, was that the staff produced more valuable work using material that competitors couldn't duplicate.
(It's worth noting that Bloomberg has its own security paranoia. Staff is banned from using Web sites that offer e-mail, for example. Internet use is monitored. And e-mail is blocked if it contains foul language.)
In recent weeks I've heard a lot of talk among B2B publishing executives about "rich data," the new buzzword for the databases owned by many a B2B magazine. And each time I hear the phrase, I wonder how many B2B journalists are able to access the data they need.
What are the policies at your company? Are reporters free to roam the Web? Does everyone have passwords to the company's databases? Does anyone have a password to competitors' databases? Does the company offer journalists the same training it offers data customers?
For a look at a piece about one of my fondest hopes, take a look at this post in which I predict that some wise B2B publisher will soon let people "mash up" the company's data to create all-new products.
For a look at what guest columnist Russell Perkins has to say about B2B and rich data, take a look at this piece on Magazine Enterprise 360, the site I produce with magazine legend Hershel Sarbin.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media
It was called PIERS. And it was full of information that made for compelling stories. But in one of those strange cultural disconnects that often happen at publishing companies, most of us in the editorial department weren't allowed to roam freely in the databases. We didn't have passwords. We couldn't get them.
Instead we had to submit a request to folks in the PIERS department, who would pull up the data we needed.
The end result, of course, was that we didn't ... couldn't ... take full advantage of PIERS. If we knew what we were looking for, we could request it. Thus our stories tended to have lots of good lists -- top imports at certain ports, etc. But we couldn't roam through the database itself. We couldn't play. We couldn't investigate. Thus we never "found" stories. We never stumbled serendipitously on to news.
I have a vague memory of asking for PIERS training and passwords and being told that the company didn't like to distribute the knowledge because of security concerns. Apparently the risk that someone could steal some of the data outweighed the chance that a reporter would use it.
Even more remarkable, I remember getting into an argument with someone at the company who didn't want to send copies of the transportation directories the company published to my office in Chicago. As much as I needed those lists of names and phone numbers to work my beat, this guy was worried about the postage. (I eventually convinced another reporter to steal a set and mail them to me.)
Years later I found myself working at Bloomberg News, where I found a very different situation. Bloomberg, wisely, made sure that every journalist in the company knew how to operate in the company's endless databases of financial information. And nearly every story ended with a "tour" -- a series of on-screen charts and graphics generated from Bloomberg data.
The result, of course, was that the staff produced more valuable work using material that competitors couldn't duplicate.
(It's worth noting that Bloomberg has its own security paranoia. Staff is banned from using Web sites that offer e-mail, for example. Internet use is monitored. And e-mail is blocked if it contains foul language.)
In recent weeks I've heard a lot of talk among B2B publishing executives about "rich data," the new buzzword for the databases owned by many a B2B magazine. And each time I hear the phrase, I wonder how many B2B journalists are able to access the data they need.
What are the policies at your company? Are reporters free to roam the Web? Does everyone have passwords to the company's databases? Does anyone have a password to competitors' databases? Does the company offer journalists the same training it offers data customers?
For a look at a piece about one of my fondest hopes, take a look at this post in which I predict that some wise B2B publisher will soon let people "mash up" the company's data to create all-new products.
For a look at what guest columnist Russell Perkins has to say about B2B and rich data, take a look at this piece on Magazine Enterprise 360, the site I produce with magazine legend Hershel Sarbin.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media
Thursday, April 27, 2006
AOL moves into microbeats
I've been pushing the idea of the microbeat for awhile now. I love the idea of reporters using blogs as a way to dive deeper into a subject -- creating a "publication" that covers an issue or company in a way that no traditional product could.
Standalone journalists have led the way, creating blog-based products that cover a single company rather than an entire industry. Check out this early trendsetter about Netflix, for example.
Some magazines have launched similar microniche products. For example, I'm a big fan of what Wired magazine has done in this area.
Today comes word that AOL is moving into the microbeat world in a major way. Take a look at BloggingStocks.com, a series of blogs that cover single companies.
I have to offer my congratulations to AOL on this. I expect these new blogs will generate a sizable audience. Few issues generate as much passion as investing. And personal-finance sites have a history of attracting active users.
That's not to say I'm thrilled with what I've seen in the first few posts at BloggingStocks. AOL has adopted a team approach to the beats. And I much prefer single-writer blogs. Nonetheless, AOL deserves congratulations for this. And I'll keep checking in to watch how the beats develop.
(Click here to take a look at what Businessweek says about the new AOL blogs.)
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media
Standalone journalists have led the way, creating blog-based products that cover a single company rather than an entire industry. Check out this early trendsetter about Netflix, for example.
Some magazines have launched similar microniche products. For example, I'm a big fan of what Wired magazine has done in this area.
Today comes word that AOL is moving into the microbeat world in a major way. Take a look at BloggingStocks.com, a series of blogs that cover single companies.
I have to offer my congratulations to AOL on this. I expect these new blogs will generate a sizable audience. Few issues generate as much passion as investing. And personal-finance sites have a history of attracting active users.
That's not to say I'm thrilled with what I've seen in the first few posts at BloggingStocks. AOL has adopted a team approach to the beats. And I much prefer single-writer blogs. Nonetheless, AOL deserves congratulations for this. And I'll keep checking in to watch how the beats develop.
(Click here to take a look at what Businessweek says about the new AOL blogs.)
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Online journalism pioneer Don Fitzpatrick dies
Some bad news today for anyone who appreciates online communities and user-generated content.
Don Fitzpatrick, the television headhunter who became a pioneer in citizen journalism and Web-based communities, has died at the age of 56.
Don started his career helping people such as Meredith Vieira, Leeza Gibbons and John Tesh find jobs in television.
But it's the work he did online that was most revolutionary.
In 1983, he launched ShopTalk, one of the first newsletters to be distributed by email (he used a database system called "the Source.") Years later he started TVSpy Watercooler, an online community in which users could post comments about the television industry.
Don sold TVSpy to the Vault in 2001, and both that community and the ShopTalk brand live on. Click here to visit TVSpy. Read Don's obituary and the tribute from some of the people he worked with. And if you like, take a look at the discussion boards and post a comment...remembering that it was Don and a handful of other pioneers who made that simple act of communicating with an online audience possible.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media
Don Fitzpatrick, the television headhunter who became a pioneer in citizen journalism and Web-based communities, has died at the age of 56.
Don started his career helping people such as Meredith Vieira, Leeza Gibbons and John Tesh find jobs in television.
But it's the work he did online that was most revolutionary.
In 1983, he launched ShopTalk, one of the first newsletters to be distributed by email (he used a database system called "the Source.") Years later he started TVSpy Watercooler, an online community in which users could post comments about the television industry.
Don sold TVSpy to the Vault in 2001, and both that community and the ShopTalk brand live on. Click here to visit TVSpy. Read Don's obituary and the tribute from some of the people he worked with. And if you like, take a look at the discussion boards and post a comment...remembering that it was Don and a handful of other pioneers who made that simple act of communicating with an online audience possible.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Improving your publication through murder
Hey, you know that "print' guy in your newsroom?
You know the guy I'm talking about? He can't edit an audio file. He can't upload a digital photo. He doesn't know html. He doesn't know what a title tag is. He can't insert a link. He's ever-so-fond of his writing style, and he's not exactly sure what it means to "repurpose" content or to "write for the Web."
You know that guy?
I want you to take a look at this piece on the Teaching Online Journalism blog. Then I want you to follow the link to the memo that went out yesterday to the staff of the Miami Herald. Then I want you to print that memo. Then wrap it around a baseball bat.
And then beat that guy with the bat until he is, at long last, dead.
And you know that delusional journalism student? The silo student? The guy one without a single new-media skill on his resumé? You know the guy I'm talking about. He wants to be a newspaper man. He wants to be a Writer with a capital "W"? Take that same bat and hit him a few times too. But don't kill him. Maybe just hit him across the knees. Folks like that are too young to die, but may not be too young to save.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media, journalism education
You know the guy I'm talking about? He can't edit an audio file. He can't upload a digital photo. He doesn't know html. He doesn't know what a title tag is. He can't insert a link. He's ever-so-fond of his writing style, and he's not exactly sure what it means to "repurpose" content or to "write for the Web."
You know that guy?
I want you to take a look at this piece on the Teaching Online Journalism blog. Then I want you to follow the link to the memo that went out yesterday to the staff of the Miami Herald. Then I want you to print that memo. Then wrap it around a baseball bat.
And then beat that guy with the bat until he is, at long last, dead.
And you know that delusional journalism student? The silo student? The guy one without a single new-media skill on his resumé? You know the guy I'm talking about. He wants to be a newspaper man. He wants to be a Writer with a capital "W"? Take that same bat and hit him a few times too. But don't kill him. Maybe just hit him across the knees. Folks like that are too young to die, but may not be too young to save.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media, journalism education
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Improving your career by drinking
What are you doing next Tuesday?
If you're going to be in New York, you should consider attending the first "Young Editors" evening of "networking and cocktails," brought to you by the folks at ABM.
ABM is promising to "help you transition from hating the boss to being the boss" as "editors from some of b-to-b’s most successful publications discuss advancing in New York’s ultra-competitive media community."
As much as I would like to attend the event, I cannot. I have a previous engagement. Besides, although I share many of the best attributes of youth -- I am, for example, both attractive and pure of heart -- I cannot claim to actually be young.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
If you're going to be in New York, you should consider attending the first "Young Editors" evening of "networking and cocktails," brought to you by the folks at ABM.
ABM is promising to "help you transition from hating the boss to being the boss" as "editors from some of b-to-b’s most successful publications discuss advancing in New York’s ultra-competitive media community."
As much as I would like to attend the event, I cannot. I have a previous engagement. Besides, although I share many of the best attributes of youth -- I am, for example, both attractive and pure of heart -- I cannot claim to actually be young.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Mistaken email about Email Summit
I have a bit of an ego.
So I believed it when I got an email yesterday from MediaPost that asked me to attend the upcoming Email Insider Summit as a VIP guest. The email said the "cost of your airfare, hotel accommodations and conference registration will be paid for by MediaPost."
So I spent a few minutes thinking about the offer. The conference, scheduled for late May, conflicted with a few things on my schedule. I also wanted to know if I was being invited as a consultant, in which case I was happy to have MediaPost pay, or as journalist, in which case I wouldn't let them pay. So I didn't respond to the invitation, and instead made a note to call MediaPost and ask for details.
Then, a few hours later, I got another email from MediaPost. This one said: "We apologize if you received an email from MediaPost earlier today inviting you as our VIP guest to the Email Insider Summit," it said. "That email was intended to be sent to a list of 50 top brand marketers in the industry, that have already agreed to attend the event."
Now I'll confess that -- despite my ego-crazed belief that all conferences can benefit from my attendance -- I was a little surprised by the original invitation.
I don't know a soul at MediaPost, I've never done any business with them, and I've never been quoted in any of their publications.
But I was still flabbergasted to learn that the invitation was a mistake. And I'll admit that I -- who have made some pretty stupid mistakes in my day -- laughed out lout to find that someone would send the wrong email invitations to a conference about email!
I looked in vain through that second email for a sign that MediaPost found the whole thing funny. But there was no acknowledgment of the humor in the situation. MediaPost did "apologize for the confusion and inconvenience that error may have caused you." But it didn't say anything about how funny this particular error was. I think that's a mistake. I can't be the only person who got the wrong email and found the situation hilarious. I would think that the right way to handle the error would involve showing a sense of humor.
Nor, for that matter, did MediaPost offer me a discount on the Summit or offer some other form of restitution. And that's likely a mistake too.
The second email did tell me that attending the Email Insider Summit would cost me $2,495 plus airfare and accommodations. Needless to say, I won't be going. And that's too bad. Because I would like to know what the marketers who fork over $2,495 to learn about email think about the error and how MediaPost handled it.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters, business media
So I believed it when I got an email yesterday from MediaPost that asked me to attend the upcoming Email Insider Summit as a VIP guest. The email said the "cost of your airfare, hotel accommodations and conference registration will be paid for by MediaPost."
So I spent a few minutes thinking about the offer. The conference, scheduled for late May, conflicted with a few things on my schedule. I also wanted to know if I was being invited as a consultant, in which case I was happy to have MediaPost pay, or as journalist, in which case I wouldn't let them pay. So I didn't respond to the invitation, and instead made a note to call MediaPost and ask for details.
Then, a few hours later, I got another email from MediaPost. This one said: "We apologize if you received an email from MediaPost earlier today inviting you as our VIP guest to the Email Insider Summit," it said. "That email was intended to be sent to a list of 50 top brand marketers in the industry, that have already agreed to attend the event."
Now I'll confess that -- despite my ego-crazed belief that all conferences can benefit from my attendance -- I was a little surprised by the original invitation.
I don't know a soul at MediaPost, I've never done any business with them, and I've never been quoted in any of their publications.
But I was still flabbergasted to learn that the invitation was a mistake. And I'll admit that I -- who have made some pretty stupid mistakes in my day -- laughed out lout to find that someone would send the wrong email invitations to a conference about email!
I looked in vain through that second email for a sign that MediaPost found the whole thing funny. But there was no acknowledgment of the humor in the situation. MediaPost did "apologize for the confusion and inconvenience that error may have caused you." But it didn't say anything about how funny this particular error was. I think that's a mistake. I can't be the only person who got the wrong email and found the situation hilarious. I would think that the right way to handle the error would involve showing a sense of humor.
Nor, for that matter, did MediaPost offer me a discount on the Summit or offer some other form of restitution. And that's likely a mistake too.
The second email did tell me that attending the Email Insider Summit would cost me $2,495 plus airfare and accommodations. Needless to say, I won't be going. And that's too bad. Because I would like to know what the marketers who fork over $2,495 to learn about email think about the error and how MediaPost handled it.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters, business media
Monday, April 10, 2006
Hedes for bots
A few months ago I wrote a post about headline writing in the age of RSS. In brief, I suggested that there was a growing need "for expertise in all types of ultra-short writing. Certainly news organizations will look for writers who can create headlines to pull in RSS users. But advertisers will too. If text ads, paid links, etc. continue to grow, then the guy who can write a three-word phrase that generates a click is of value."
Today the New York Times suggests that there's another skill that writers need in the new era -- writing hedes that search engines like. You can read the Times piece here. And take a look at what Fine Young Journalist and the Poynter Institute have to say on the subject.
As for me...I still like the short and pithy concept. And I'd suggest that B2B journalists adopt the two-tiered approach used by the BBC. Use the hedes on the home page to attract humans, and use the hedes on the article page to lure bots. "Some news sites offer two headlines," the Times says. "One headline, often on the first Web page, is clever, meant to attract human readers. Then, one click to a second Web page, a more quotidian, factual headline appears with the article itself. The popular BBC News Web site does this routinely on longer articles."
And don't ignore an article's title tag, like the knuckleheads I mentioned in this earlier post did. Title tags are a great place to put the less-than-pithy phrases that bots love.
Today the New York Times suggests that there's another skill that writers need in the new era -- writing hedes that search engines like. You can read the Times piece here. And take a look at what Fine Young Journalist and the Poynter Institute have to say on the subject.
As for me...I still like the short and pithy concept. And I'd suggest that B2B journalists adopt the two-tiered approach used by the BBC. Use the hedes on the home page to attract humans, and use the hedes on the article page to lure bots. "Some news sites offer two headlines," the Times says. "One headline, often on the first Web page, is clever, meant to attract human readers. Then, one click to a second Web page, a more quotidian, factual headline appears with the article itself. The popular BBC News Web site does this routinely on longer articles."
And don't ignore an article's title tag, like the knuckleheads I mentioned in this earlier post did. Title tags are a great place to put the less-than-pithy phrases that bots love.
Friday, April 07, 2006
More on ethics and press releases
It appears that the problem I complained about a few days ago -- publishers pretending that press releases are news items created by staff writers -- isn't confined to B2B journalism.
Television news programs are suffering from similar shortcomings, according to an investigation by Free Press and the Center For Media and Democracy. In the TV business, press releases often come in a so-called video news release, or VNR, a sort of pretend story and/or B-roll background footage. And according to the investigation, at least 77 stations aired VNRs without attribution and branded them instead with the station's graphics. (You can read about the investigation here or here.)
One thing worth noting -- and worth applauding -- in the VNR scandal is how the Radio-Television News Directors Association reacted. The RTNDA issued this statement, urging stations "to review and strengthen their policies requiring complete disclosure of any outside material used in news programming." The RTNDA also reminded members that the organization's ethics policy prohibits such activity.
At present there are no such outright bans in the ethics policies of the ASBPE or ABM. But perhaps it's not too much to hope that one or both groups would consider addressing the issue.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media, journalism education
Television news programs are suffering from similar shortcomings, according to an investigation by Free Press and the Center For Media and Democracy. In the TV business, press releases often come in a so-called video news release, or VNR, a sort of pretend story and/or B-roll background footage. And according to the investigation, at least 77 stations aired VNRs without attribution and branded them instead with the station's graphics. (You can read about the investigation here or here.)
One thing worth noting -- and worth applauding -- in the VNR scandal is how the Radio-Television News Directors Association reacted. The RTNDA issued this statement, urging stations "to review and strengthen their policies requiring complete disclosure of any outside material used in news programming." The RTNDA also reminded members that the organization's ethics policy prohibits such activity.
At present there are no such outright bans in the ethics policies of the ASBPE or ABM. But perhaps it's not too much to hope that one or both groups would consider addressing the issue.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media, journalism education
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
More on silo students
I've said it before. And I'll say it again. If you're a journalism student without multimedia skills, I want nothing to do with you.
No one I know needs another I'm-willing-to-learn type. No one I know needs another I'm-a-print-sort-of-guy. No one I know needs someone who thinks he's a "writer."
Everyone I know needs journalists -- multimedia journalists.
If you don't believe me, perhaps you'll believe Michael Vizard at Ziff Davis: "Today, when I hire, I'm looking for someone who can write and do audio/video content. If you show up and you're a great writer but you don't have multimedia skills, and another guy shows up who's not quite as good a writer but he can create audio and video, I'll hire the more versatile person."
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media, journalism education
No one I know needs another I'm-willing-to-learn type. No one I know needs another I'm-a-print-sort-of-guy. No one I know needs someone who thinks he's a "writer."
Everyone I know needs journalists -- multimedia journalists.
If you don't believe me, perhaps you'll believe Michael Vizard at Ziff Davis: "Today, when I hire, I'm looking for someone who can write and do audio/video content. If you show up and you're a great writer but you don't have multimedia skills, and another guy shows up who's not quite as good a writer but he can create audio and video, I'll hire the more versatile person."
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media, journalism education
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Folio picks its 40 most influential people
Folio magazine has published its Folio: 40 list of the most influential people in publishing. And I'm just thrilled to see that Jon Udell of IDG's Infoworld has made the list.
I'll take a wee bit of credit for this. The folks at Folio magazine were kind enough to seek my input to the Folio: 40 this year. They asked who I thought "represented the state of the art in the new world of b-to-be edit." And Jon was the first person who came to mind.
If you're a B2B editor, Jon is the guy you should try to emulate. He does all the things that his peers do -- writing, reporting, editing -- and he does them better than most. He's also the creator of all-new forms of storytelling (screencasting) and content organization (Infoworld metadata explorer.) And as Folio points out, Jon's blog is "powerhouse of knowledge that incorporates information with video and audio, essentially the next generation in online communication resources."
Take a look at the rest of what Folio said about Jon here.
Take a look at the entire Folio: 40 list here.
And while you're at it, check out this column, which quotes from an earlier post to this blog.
(DISCLOSURE: IDG is a client of mine. But I'm afraid I can't take credit for anything that Jon has ever done.)
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media
I'll take a wee bit of credit for this. The folks at Folio magazine were kind enough to seek my input to the Folio: 40 this year. They asked who I thought "represented the state of the art in the new world of b-to-be edit." And Jon was the first person who came to mind.
If you're a B2B editor, Jon is the guy you should try to emulate. He does all the things that his peers do -- writing, reporting, editing -- and he does them better than most. He's also the creator of all-new forms of storytelling (screencasting) and content organization (Infoworld metadata explorer.) And as Folio points out, Jon's blog is "powerhouse of knowledge that incorporates information with video and audio, essentially the next generation in online communication resources."
Take a look at the rest of what Folio said about Jon here.
Take a look at the entire Folio: 40 list here.
And while you're at it, check out this column, which quotes from an earlier post to this blog.
(DISCLOSURE: IDG is a client of mine. But I'm afraid I can't take credit for anything that Jon has ever done.)
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media
Objecting to objectivity
There's an interesting piece in Slate that raises interesting questions about the future of journalism, and observes that objectivity "is less an ideal than a conceit."
Longtime readers of this blog won't be surprised to hear that I agree with Slate's Michael Kinsley on this. I've been talking about post-objectivity ethics and urging folks to read the work of Dan Gillmor for quite some time.
Kinsley goes on to say that "No one seriously doubts anymore that the Internet will fundamentally change the news business. The uncertainty is whether it will only change the method of delivering the product, or whether it will change the nature of the product as well."
And although I agree that there is uncertainty among many of the journalists I know, I would argue that this uncertainty is misplaced. To me it seems obvious that online media -- particularly blogs -- will change the way journalism is practiced. Certainly objectivity is growing less important. But I'm far more interested in the other changes that new media brings.
Hang on to your objective style as long as you like. It won't bother me. But please -- please -- accept that you must adopt the core practices of blogging-- external, agnostic links; feedback functions and conversation; and multimedia storytelling -- if you want to continue to keep working in this industry.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media
Longtime readers of this blog won't be surprised to hear that I agree with Slate's Michael Kinsley on this. I've been talking about post-objectivity ethics and urging folks to read the work of Dan Gillmor for quite some time.
Kinsley goes on to say that "No one seriously doubts anymore that the Internet will fundamentally change the news business. The uncertainty is whether it will only change the method of delivering the product, or whether it will change the nature of the product as well."
And although I agree that there is uncertainty among many of the journalists I know, I would argue that this uncertainty is misplaced. To me it seems obvious that online media -- particularly blogs -- will change the way journalism is practiced. Certainly objectivity is growing less important. But I'm far more interested in the other changes that new media brings.
Hang on to your objective style as long as you like. It won't bother me. But please -- please -- accept that you must adopt the core practices of blogging-- external, agnostic links; feedback functions and conversation; and multimedia storytelling -- if you want to continue to keep working in this industry.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media
Monday, March 27, 2006
Where B2B falls short
If you work in B2B journalism, then you know we have a respect problem. Our peers in the mainstream press often think we're hacks. Our brothers in the ad department sometimes think we're whores. The companies that we cover think we're part of their industry, not part of the media, and expect us to take on a cheerleading role.
B2B publishing can be a lonely place for reporters and editors who push for excellence. I've lost track of the number of times I've heard talented and ambitious journalists say they wish they worked for a "real" magazine," wish they were "real" reporters.
And the awful truth is that they often have good reason to be embarrassed.
Take a look at this press release from the National Instruments company. Note that the press release is clearly a press release, and that the BusinessWire tag appears at the start.
Then look at this "story" at Desktop Engineering magazine.
The two pieces are the same. Only Desktop Engineering removed the BusinessWire tag and added the phrase "written by DE editors."
Visit the DE news section. Open any story. Copy some text. Paste the text into Google and search. You'll find that the pieces that DE labels as "written by DE editors" are press releases written by someone else.
I sent an email to the editor of DE several weeks ago voicing my concern, but have not received a reply.
Now DE has clearly crossed a line by saying things are "written by DE editors" when it's more accurate to say they were "copied and pasted by DE editors." But it's not fair to single out DE over this issue. Although not everyone in our industry struggles with the meaning of the phrase "written by," lots of B2B publications seem to struggle with the line between news stories and press releases. Regular readers of this blog know I've complained in the past about similar practices by PennWell. And regular readers know that I've lobbied ASBPE to address a related problem -- when a publication runs its own press releases as news -- in its new ethics guidelines.
I shouldn't have to say this, but perhaps I do: a press release often has value. I don't object to seeing press releases on a Web site or reprinted in a magazine.
But I don't understand why anyone would label a press release as news. Press releases are not the same as news stories (although they are often the starting point for news stories.) And by not drawing a distinction between the two we tell readers that there is no distinction. When we label a press release from an outside company as news we confirm the worst suspicions that people have of us -- that we don't "report" the way "real" journalists do, that our "news" is nothing more than regurgitated public-relations material and that our news judgment is determined by how easy something is to do or how much someone pays us to print it.
I know I'm not alone in my concern. John Brady wrote an interesting column for Folio a few weeks ago in which he listed "the tell-tale signs of a magazine that had fallen into the easy marketing arms of PR." If you're interested in excellence, ethics or even just not being half-assed, take a look at his piece.
And if you want to see what folks in the public relations industry think of B2B editors who run press releases as news, check out the comments to this earlier post.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters, business media
B2B publishing can be a lonely place for reporters and editors who push for excellence. I've lost track of the number of times I've heard talented and ambitious journalists say they wish they worked for a "real" magazine," wish they were "real" reporters.
And the awful truth is that they often have good reason to be embarrassed.
Take a look at this press release from the National Instruments company. Note that the press release is clearly a press release, and that the BusinessWire tag appears at the start.
Then look at this "story" at Desktop Engineering magazine.
The two pieces are the same. Only Desktop Engineering removed the BusinessWire tag and added the phrase "written by DE editors."
Visit the DE news section. Open any story. Copy some text. Paste the text into Google and search. You'll find that the pieces that DE labels as "written by DE editors" are press releases written by someone else.
I sent an email to the editor of DE several weeks ago voicing my concern, but have not received a reply.
Now DE has clearly crossed a line by saying things are "written by DE editors" when it's more accurate to say they were "copied and pasted by DE editors." But it's not fair to single out DE over this issue. Although not everyone in our industry struggles with the meaning of the phrase "written by," lots of B2B publications seem to struggle with the line between news stories and press releases. Regular readers of this blog know I've complained in the past about similar practices by PennWell. And regular readers know that I've lobbied ASBPE to address a related problem -- when a publication runs its own press releases as news -- in its new ethics guidelines.
I shouldn't have to say this, but perhaps I do: a press release often has value. I don't object to seeing press releases on a Web site or reprinted in a magazine.
But I don't understand why anyone would label a press release as news. Press releases are not the same as news stories (although they are often the starting point for news stories.) And by not drawing a distinction between the two we tell readers that there is no distinction. When we label a press release from an outside company as news we confirm the worst suspicions that people have of us -- that we don't "report" the way "real" journalists do, that our "news" is nothing more than regurgitated public-relations material and that our news judgment is determined by how easy something is to do or how much someone pays us to print it.
I know I'm not alone in my concern. John Brady wrote an interesting column for Folio a few weeks ago in which he listed "the tell-tale signs of a magazine that had fallen into the easy marketing arms of PR." If you're interested in excellence, ethics or even just not being half-assed, take a look at his piece.
And if you want to see what folks in the public relations industry think of B2B editors who run press releases as news, check out the comments to this earlier post.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters, business media
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Award winning B2B magazines
I'm back in New York today, but I didn't get a chance to attend the Neal Awards. So I just learned the results a few minutes ago when I checked my feeds.
The big winner was Farm Journal magazine. The veteran monthly picked up the Grand Neal award for a series that the judges called a "masterful blending of science, consumer reporting, and passion." I'm pleased by Farm Journal's win. I've worked with a lot of agriculture publications over the years, and Farm Journal has always been a worthy competitor. And the magazine has managed to excel in what has become one of the most competitive spaces in B2B media.
IDG picked up three awards. And that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who reads this blog. I'm a bit of an IDG groupie. I just adore much of what that company does, and I use them often as an example of excellence. (FULL DISCLOSURE: IDG is a client of mine.)
Take a look at the complete list of winners here. (BtoB magazine has a story here. And check out what my friend David Shaw has to say about the winners here.) You'll see that some of the very best products in trade publishing are represented.
But as longtime readers of this blog would guess, I'm perplexed by Porkmag.com's victory as best small Web site. When the Vance Publishing site was nominated two months ago, I made note of just how poor a choice I thought that was. Porkmag, I said, has "no interactivity -- no links, no feedback functions. The news section is just a news feed. The magazine material isn't repurposed and there's nothing original that I see." I have to confess....I don't see anything worth praising at the site. And I'm shocked that ABM found the product worthy of an award.
(FULL DISCLOSURE: I was once a senior writer at Vance.)
AviationWeek Intelligence Network won the Best Web site award for a mid-size product. I haven't the slightest idea if that site is any good. AWIN has the single most offensive registration process I've ever seen on a Web site. Take a look here. And if you're willing to hand over your phone number, someone will call you sometime in the next two days to let you sample the site.
ADDENDUM: I had to chuckle as I looked through the list of Neal Award winners again and saw that DVM magazine won an award for news coverage. Just yesterday I pointed to DVM as having the worst idea in B2B publishing for its silly policy of charging users $20 to email a story to a friend. DVM's award was for something called "The Long Road to Recovery."
If anyone out there has some extra cash, maybe they can send me a copy of the story.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
The big winner was Farm Journal magazine. The veteran monthly picked up the Grand Neal award for a series that the judges called a "masterful blending of science, consumer reporting, and passion." I'm pleased by Farm Journal's win. I've worked with a lot of agriculture publications over the years, and Farm Journal has always been a worthy competitor. And the magazine has managed to excel in what has become one of the most competitive spaces in B2B media.
IDG picked up three awards. And that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who reads this blog. I'm a bit of an IDG groupie. I just adore much of what that company does, and I use them often as an example of excellence. (FULL DISCLOSURE: IDG is a client of mine.)
Take a look at the complete list of winners here. (BtoB magazine has a story here. And check out what my friend David Shaw has to say about the winners here.) You'll see that some of the very best products in trade publishing are represented.
But as longtime readers of this blog would guess, I'm perplexed by Porkmag.com's victory as best small Web site. When the Vance Publishing site was nominated two months ago, I made note of just how poor a choice I thought that was. Porkmag, I said, has "no interactivity -- no links, no feedback functions. The news section is just a news feed. The magazine material isn't repurposed and there's nothing original that I see." I have to confess....I don't see anything worth praising at the site. And I'm shocked that ABM found the product worthy of an award.
(FULL DISCLOSURE: I was once a senior writer at Vance.)
AviationWeek Intelligence Network won the Best Web site award for a mid-size product. I haven't the slightest idea if that site is any good. AWIN has the single most offensive registration process I've ever seen on a Web site. Take a look here. And if you're willing to hand over your phone number, someone will call you sometime in the next two days to let you sample the site.
ADDENDUM: I had to chuckle as I looked through the list of Neal Award winners again and saw that DVM magazine won an award for news coverage. Just yesterday I pointed to DVM as having the worst idea in B2B publishing for its silly policy of charging users $20 to email a story to a friend. DVM's award was for something called "The Long Road to Recovery."
If anyone out there has some extra cash, maybe they can send me a copy of the story.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
The worst idea in B2B publishing
This may be the worst idea I have ever seen in B2B publishing.
Take a look at DVM, an Advanstar publication that covers veterinary science. Follow the links to the news page.
Look at any story. Pick this one, for example, and open it. You'll find a rewritten press release about the 90th anniversary of Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. Now imagine that you had a friend who graduated from that school. And imagine that you wanted to send him this story to let him know about the anniversary.
Click on the little blue box at the top of the story and you'll get a pop-up message that tells you that sending that story to your friend will cost you $20.
Just think about that for a second. DVM is telling its readers that it will charge them for the right to do word-of-mouth marketing on DVM's behalf. DVM wants its customers to pay every time they try and get someone to check out DVM.
Now I'd find this idea laughable under any circumstances. But DVM goes beyond the absurd. It's trying to collect these charges for press releases that are available in dozens of other places and that DVM doesn't hide behind a password-protection wall.
Given how unlikely it is that people are silly enough to pay such fees, I can't imagine that DVM actually generates any revenue from this. But I'm quite sure that the damage to customer relations as well as the loss of free marketing is sizable.
I've seen similar schemes elsewhere in B2B. And I'm left speechless by them.
I'd love to know what these folks are thinking. And for the low, low price of $20, they can post a comment and tell me.
ADDENDUM: 3/24/05. About a day or so after this post was published, DVM changed its system. Read the comments to this post for more details.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Take a look at DVM, an Advanstar publication that covers veterinary science. Follow the links to the news page.
Look at any story. Pick this one, for example, and open it. You'll find a rewritten press release about the 90th anniversary of Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. Now imagine that you had a friend who graduated from that school. And imagine that you wanted to send him this story to let him know about the anniversary.
Click on the little blue box at the top of the story and you'll get a pop-up message that tells you that sending that story to your friend will cost you $20.
Just think about that for a second. DVM is telling its readers that it will charge them for the right to do word-of-mouth marketing on DVM's behalf. DVM wants its customers to pay every time they try and get someone to check out DVM.
Now I'd find this idea laughable under any circumstances. But DVM goes beyond the absurd. It's trying to collect these charges for press releases that are available in dozens of other places and that DVM doesn't hide behind a password-protection wall.
Given how unlikely it is that people are silly enough to pay such fees, I can't imagine that DVM actually generates any revenue from this. But I'm quite sure that the damage to customer relations as well as the loss of free marketing is sizable.
I've seen similar schemes elsewhere in B2B. And I'm left speechless by them.
I'd love to know what these folks are thinking. And for the low, low price of $20, they can post a comment and tell me.
ADDENDUM: 3/24/05. About a day or so after this post was published, DVM changed its system. Read the comments to this post for more details.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Friday, March 17, 2006
Students, teachers and visionaries
The annual convention of College Media Advisers is here in New York this week. And if I finish this post and a few other items in a timely fashion, I may make another trip in to Manhattan to hear some lectures and talk to some of the roughly 1,500 college journalists who attend the convention.
I was at CMA earlier this week (I'm on the association's professional advisory board.) Last week I visited Northwest Missouri State's new media program (I'm on a similar board there.) So I've been giving a lot of thought of late to the next generation of journalists.
And much of what I've been thinking hasn't been positive.
Perhaps the strangest thing I've run into is what I've come to think of as the silo student. Kids keep handing me resumes that look like they were written 20 years ago. They mention the student newspaper, the yearbook and the college literary magazine. But they don't mention Web sites, blogs, email newsletters, podcasts, html skills, citizen journalism projects, video, etc. And when I ask the students about their online experience, I get these weird responses. Lots of them tell me "I only want to work for a newspaper." Lots of them say things like "I'm going to be a writer, not anything else." Some seem genuinely perplexed and ask me if I think "most newspapers have Web sites?" or if "reporters need to do things on the Web?"
When I asked teachers what they thought about this, I found that they were as upset as I was by their students' disconnect from the realities of media today.
Teachers told me over and over again that their students were adamantly opposed to converging news operations at their schools. The print kids don't like the TV kids; the Web kids don't like the print kids, etc. The "cultures" don't mix, so the products don't mix and the students don't develop multimedia skills. Remarkably, as one teacher pointed out, few print students actually "lived" in the world of old media. They all owned iPods. They snap photos with cell phones, communicate with Instant Messenger and join social-networking sites. Yet they expect to work in some sort of old-fashioned land of ink and paper.
A number of teachers blamed the disconnect on their peers in college journalism programs. Many programs are dominated by older, established teachers who haven't worked in the press for decades and have an open contempt for newer forms of media. And no doubt such elitist dinosaurs are helping to create a new generation of unemployable followers.
If you take a look at what I wrote on this blog a year ago today, you'll see that the silo student is not a new phenomenon.
And longtime readers of this blog know that I still find silo professionals as well -- veteran journalists who have failed to develop new media skills -- and that I urge publishers to fire them.
I take a similarly harsh stand with students. As I told the folks at CMA, I have no interest in even talking to a student who has neither the curiosity to acquire basic new-media skills nor the common sense to understand that the industry is changing.
The person I did want to talk to -- the king of new media skills, the visionary who has taught us much about change -- wasn't around. Rob Curley is also on the professional advisory board, but he didn't make the meeting. Although I'm a fan of Rob's, we've never met in person. And I had been looking forward to being as star-struck as this guy was.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media, journalism education
I was at CMA earlier this week (I'm on the association's professional advisory board.) Last week I visited Northwest Missouri State's new media program (I'm on a similar board there.) So I've been giving a lot of thought of late to the next generation of journalists.
And much of what I've been thinking hasn't been positive.
Perhaps the strangest thing I've run into is what I've come to think of as the silo student. Kids keep handing me resumes that look like they were written 20 years ago. They mention the student newspaper, the yearbook and the college literary magazine. But they don't mention Web sites, blogs, email newsletters, podcasts, html skills, citizen journalism projects, video, etc. And when I ask the students about their online experience, I get these weird responses. Lots of them tell me "I only want to work for a newspaper." Lots of them say things like "I'm going to be a writer, not anything else." Some seem genuinely perplexed and ask me if I think "most newspapers have Web sites?" or if "reporters need to do things on the Web?"
When I asked teachers what they thought about this, I found that they were as upset as I was by their students' disconnect from the realities of media today.
Teachers told me over and over again that their students were adamantly opposed to converging news operations at their schools. The print kids don't like the TV kids; the Web kids don't like the print kids, etc. The "cultures" don't mix, so the products don't mix and the students don't develop multimedia skills. Remarkably, as one teacher pointed out, few print students actually "lived" in the world of old media. They all owned iPods. They snap photos with cell phones, communicate with Instant Messenger and join social-networking sites. Yet they expect to work in some sort of old-fashioned land of ink and paper.
A number of teachers blamed the disconnect on their peers in college journalism programs. Many programs are dominated by older, established teachers who haven't worked in the press for decades and have an open contempt for newer forms of media. And no doubt such elitist dinosaurs are helping to create a new generation of unemployable followers.
If you take a look at what I wrote on this blog a year ago today, you'll see that the silo student is not a new phenomenon.
And longtime readers of this blog know that I still find silo professionals as well -- veteran journalists who have failed to develop new media skills -- and that I urge publishers to fire them.
I take a similarly harsh stand with students. As I told the folks at CMA, I have no interest in even talking to a student who has neither the curiosity to acquire basic new-media skills nor the common sense to understand that the industry is changing.
The person I did want to talk to -- the king of new media skills, the visionary who has taught us much about change -- wasn't around. Rob Curley is also on the professional advisory board, but he didn't make the meeting. Although I'm a fan of Rob's, we've never met in person. And I had been looking forward to being as star-struck as this guy was.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media, journalism education
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
The long march of March
March is my favorite -- and often my busiest -- month.
This is the month of my birth. And everyone who knows me well knows I never work on my birthday. But it seems like every other day of the month is packed with work and travel.
I'm on the road starting tomorrow for most of the next few weeks. I'll be flying to Kansas City to see friends and associates. I'll be visiting Northwest Missouri State, where I'm on the professional advisory board of the Mass Communications Department. I'll be back in New York for the convention of the College Media Advisers, where I'm also on the professional advisory board. After that I have trips planned to D.C., Boston and possibly Florida.
Things should settle down again next month.
In the meantime, I'll keep posting to this blog when the mood strikes me. But I expect things will be more sporadic than usual for a few weeks.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
This is the month of my birth. And everyone who knows me well knows I never work on my birthday. But it seems like every other day of the month is packed with work and travel.
I'm on the road starting tomorrow for most of the next few weeks. I'll be flying to Kansas City to see friends and associates. I'll be visiting Northwest Missouri State, where I'm on the professional advisory board of the Mass Communications Department. I'll be back in New York for the convention of the College Media Advisers, where I'm also on the professional advisory board. After that I have trips planned to D.C., Boston and possibly Florida.
Things should settle down again next month.
In the meantime, I'll keep posting to this blog when the mood strikes me. But I expect things will be more sporadic than usual for a few weeks.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media
Friday, March 03, 2006
RSS or Really Successful Syndication
I like to tell publishers that adding an RSS feed is the best easy thing they can do to serve readers and improve their online offerings.
But until I read Matt McAlister's blog yesterday, I failed to notice just how easily one company has managed to become the RSS provider of choice for some powerhouses of the press.
As detailed on Matt's blog, Feedburner is conducting "a systematic conquest of publishers' RSS feeds."
Certainly part of Feedburner's success is due to the product itself. RSS is about the simplest function in publishing. And Feedburner has made it even easier. For example, I'd guess that I spent all of about five seconds creating my Feedburner feed, and that is about 1/1000th the time it took me to learn to operate my cable TV remote. Combine ease of use with upside potential and you have a product that any publisher would like.
But the most interesting thing about Matt's post is his comparison of Feedburner to IndustryBrains, the ad-serving network used by IDG, Slashdot, eWeek, Investors Business Daily and others.
Check out what Matt has to say here.
Or you can read some of my earlier thoughts on RSS here.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters advertising, business media
But until I read Matt McAlister's blog yesterday, I failed to notice just how easily one company has managed to become the RSS provider of choice for some powerhouses of the press.
As detailed on Matt's blog, Feedburner is conducting "a systematic conquest of publishers' RSS feeds."
Certainly part of Feedburner's success is due to the product itself. RSS is about the simplest function in publishing. And Feedburner has made it even easier. For example, I'd guess that I spent all of about five seconds creating my Feedburner feed, and that is about 1/1000th the time it took me to learn to operate my cable TV remote. Combine ease of use with upside potential and you have a product that any publisher would like.
But the most interesting thing about Matt's post is his comparison of Feedburner to IndustryBrains, the ad-serving network used by IDG, Slashdot, eWeek, Investors Business Daily and others.
Check out what Matt has to say here.
Or you can read some of my earlier thoughts on RSS here.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters advertising, business media
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Things that make no sense
I like to think that I'm a nice man. But the truth is that I'm sometimes a little insensitive.
That's why I laughed when I heard what is actually sad news: Electronic Publishing magazine is closing its print edition.
I'm not one of those folks who say that print is dead. But it is clear to me that much of the print world is in trouble. And I guess I just find it funny that someone was still publishing a paper product about electronic publishing. And when I heard the news, I couldn't stop thinking about that company that sells DVDs that you can watch on your television to learn how to operate a computer.
I'm sure that killing the print edition of EP is a good idea. And I wish the folks who work there well. But I'm afraid I'm not confident that things will go well online either. Electronic Publishing is owned by PennWell. And longtime readers of this blog know that I've singled out PennWell in the past for failing to live up to the potential of the Web. And a look at the Electronic Publishing site is an exercise in how not to practice online journalism. First, take a look at this piece from the front page. It is, clearly, a press release. And if you copy the text and search for it in Google, you'll see that other sites run it as a press release and give it proper attribution. EP, however, doesn't provide attribution and drops it unedited into the news hole.
Take a look around the site yourself and see if you agree with me. Follow the link to the page that PennWell has the audacity to call "Web Exclusives." It is an endless sea of press releases, despite the strange, redundant and incorrect heading of "EP Online News Online Articles."
Furthermore, the EP site lacks all of the things that make for compelling online content -- links, graphics, interactivity, photos, etc.
If my sources are correct, then EP is not the only print publication to die today. I've been hearing rumors that Vance Publishing, where I was once a senior writer, is shuttering two magazines -- Meat and Seafood Merchandising and Produce Concepts. I hope the news isn't true. I've known some hard-working folks who have tried to make those products work. But I suspect that these two publications are gone.
On a more positive note, there is some good business news today in B2B journalism. Penton is buying WeldingWeb, an online community with more than 7,000 registered members. The site should mesh well with Penton's Welding Design & Fabrication magazine, which needs a more engaging Web product.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media
That's why I laughed when I heard what is actually sad news: Electronic Publishing magazine is closing its print edition.
I'm not one of those folks who say that print is dead. But it is clear to me that much of the print world is in trouble. And I guess I just find it funny that someone was still publishing a paper product about electronic publishing. And when I heard the news, I couldn't stop thinking about that company that sells DVDs that you can watch on your television to learn how to operate a computer.
I'm sure that killing the print edition of EP is a good idea. And I wish the folks who work there well. But I'm afraid I'm not confident that things will go well online either. Electronic Publishing is owned by PennWell. And longtime readers of this blog know that I've singled out PennWell in the past for failing to live up to the potential of the Web. And a look at the Electronic Publishing site is an exercise in how not to practice online journalism. First, take a look at this piece from the front page. It is, clearly, a press release. And if you copy the text and search for it in Google, you'll see that other sites run it as a press release and give it proper attribution. EP, however, doesn't provide attribution and drops it unedited into the news hole.
Take a look around the site yourself and see if you agree with me. Follow the link to the page that PennWell has the audacity to call "Web Exclusives." It is an endless sea of press releases, despite the strange, redundant and incorrect heading of "EP Online News Online Articles."
Furthermore, the EP site lacks all of the things that make for compelling online content -- links, graphics, interactivity, photos, etc.
If my sources are correct, then EP is not the only print publication to die today. I've been hearing rumors that Vance Publishing, where I was once a senior writer, is shuttering two magazines -- Meat and Seafood Merchandising and Produce Concepts. I hope the news isn't true. I've known some hard-working folks who have tried to make those products work. But I suspect that these two publications are gone.
On a more positive note, there is some good business news today in B2B journalism. Penton is buying WeldingWeb, an online community with more than 7,000 registered members. The site should mesh well with Penton's Welding Design & Fabrication magazine, which needs a more engaging Web product.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media
Monday, February 27, 2006
B2B mash-ups and rich data
I'm still waiting to see someone in the B2B media world embrace the idea of the mash-up by allowing readers to rebuild and recraft content.
I would guess that the most obvious -- and potentially the most lucrative -- area for this would be in data. B2B publishers are increasingly turning to data as a way to boost revenue, as Russell Perkins at InfoCommerce has noted. Smart executives at B2B companies have a new appreciation of the revenue potential of those endless databases filled with what is now called "rich data." But what few seem to have noticed yet is the creative potential of rich data.
When I worked at Bloomberg News, I was mesmerized by the volumes of stocks and bonds data that was available to me. And my terminal, just like the terminals used by Bloomberg's customers, allowed me to run myriad functions to track, predict or examine a market. And with a simple click or two of my keyboard, I could create graphic representations of my findings and attach them to a news story. (Note: If you're interested in visual storytelling and you don't have a Bloomberg terminal, you can take a look at some of the simpler functions that can be run by non-customers here. And there are other companies that provide complex visualizations of data that are worth studying, such as this one.)
Few B2B companies have the resources available to develop better, more interesting, more fun and useful ways to look at rich data. But the world is full of people with the technical and creative skills to do exactly that. I've said before that I have my doubts that most B2B publishers have the interest or the courage to allow mash-ups. But I expect that sometime soon some B2B publisher, braver and smarter than his competitors, will let outside Web developers start playing with the data.
In the meantime, I'll watch the fun at the Washington Post, which has embraced the mash-up culture. And I'll amuse myself by playing with the 10 Best Flickr Mashups, including the one that let me build this:
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media
I would guess that the most obvious -- and potentially the most lucrative -- area for this would be in data. B2B publishers are increasingly turning to data as a way to boost revenue, as Russell Perkins at InfoCommerce has noted. Smart executives at B2B companies have a new appreciation of the revenue potential of those endless databases filled with what is now called "rich data." But what few seem to have noticed yet is the creative potential of rich data.
When I worked at Bloomberg News, I was mesmerized by the volumes of stocks and bonds data that was available to me. And my terminal, just like the terminals used by Bloomberg's customers, allowed me to run myriad functions to track, predict or examine a market. And with a simple click or two of my keyboard, I could create graphic representations of my findings and attach them to a news story. (Note: If you're interested in visual storytelling and you don't have a Bloomberg terminal, you can take a look at some of the simpler functions that can be run by non-customers here. And there are other companies that provide complex visualizations of data that are worth studying, such as this one.)
Few B2B companies have the resources available to develop better, more interesting, more fun and useful ways to look at rich data. But the world is full of people with the technical and creative skills to do exactly that. I've said before that I have my doubts that most B2B publishers have the interest or the courage to allow mash-ups. But I expect that sometime soon some B2B publisher, braver and smarter than his competitors, will let outside Web developers start playing with the data.
In the meantime, I'll watch the fun at the Washington Post, which has embraced the mash-up culture. And I'll amuse myself by playing with the 10 Best Flickr Mashups, including the one that let me build this:
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media
Thursday, February 23, 2006
When magazines blog
Most every magazine executive I know has suddenly become interested in the idea of blogging. It's as if everyone in the business woke up a few days ago and noticed that there was an inexpensive way to add content to their enterprise.
As a result, magazines are producing blogs at a rate that I can't keep up with. So I was pleased to see that there's a new service for obsessive types like me who want to monitor who is doing what in the world of magazine blogging: the Magazine Publishers of America trade association has a newsfeed-like service that shows posts from magazine-run blogs. (Strangely, there's no RSS feed available.)
Readers of this blog will be pleased to see that B2B publications are well represented on the list. But careful readers will also note a number of magazine-affiliated blogs are missing -- notably Meetingsnet's Face2Face and the blogs of Furniture Today.
If you're as obsessive as I am about these things, check out my post about the MPA service on the Conley-Sarbin blog on magazine blogs.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media
As a result, magazines are producing blogs at a rate that I can't keep up with. So I was pleased to see that there's a new service for obsessive types like me who want to monitor who is doing what in the world of magazine blogging: the Magazine Publishers of America trade association has a newsfeed-like service that shows posts from magazine-run blogs. (Strangely, there's no RSS feed available.)
Readers of this blog will be pleased to see that B2B publications are well represented on the list. But careful readers will also note a number of magazine-affiliated blogs are missing -- notably Meetingsnet's Face2Face and the blogs of Furniture Today.
If you're as obsessive as I am about these things, check out my post about the MPA service on the Conley-Sarbin blog on magazine blogs.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Keeping the talent in B2B journalism
In the past few days I've chatted with four old friends from my early days in trade journalism.
None of them is still working in B2B. One is in public relations. One is at a mainstream newspaper. One works for a major network. One works for one of the wire services.
I'm proud of these folks. They've done well.
But there's something sad about the fact that none of them is still working in B2B.
I understand why they left. A quick glance at my resume shows that I've severed my ties to B2B numerous times. I've left trade magazines to work for the Winston-Salem Journal, CNNfn (now CNNMoney), Bloomberg and to start a business. The truth is that there's more glamour in other parts of the media. There's often more professionalism too. And there are plenty of more lucrative ways to make a living than B2B editorial.
The truth is that our industry has a difficult time retaining its most talented people. And in a world where every journalist can become his own publisher, I expect established B2B companies will have more difficulty keeping staff in the future.
So I applaud ASBPE, which several years ago developed its Young Leaders Scholarship as a way to keep young editors interested in B2B journalism. The YLS scholarship sends worthy young editors to the ASBPE convention. (You can find information and an application for this year's scholarship here.)
And now, for the first time, young editors from international publications have a similar opportunity. Trade, Association and Business Publications International will offer its own YLS scholarships to send young editors to the ASBPE show in Chicago. (Information and an application can be found here.)
If you're under 30-years old and working at a B2B publication that won't pay your way to the convention, fill out an application.
I'm serving on a panel at this year's ASBPE show. I hope to see you there.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters
None of them is still working in B2B. One is in public relations. One is at a mainstream newspaper. One works for a major network. One works for one of the wire services.
I'm proud of these folks. They've done well.
But there's something sad about the fact that none of them is still working in B2B.
I understand why they left. A quick glance at my resume shows that I've severed my ties to B2B numerous times. I've left trade magazines to work for the Winston-Salem Journal, CNNfn (now CNNMoney), Bloomberg and to start a business. The truth is that there's more glamour in other parts of the media. There's often more professionalism too. And there are plenty of more lucrative ways to make a living than B2B editorial.
The truth is that our industry has a difficult time retaining its most talented people. And in a world where every journalist can become his own publisher, I expect established B2B companies will have more difficulty keeping staff in the future.
So I applaud ASBPE, which several years ago developed its Young Leaders Scholarship as a way to keep young editors interested in B2B journalism. The YLS scholarship sends worthy young editors to the ASBPE convention. (You can find information and an application for this year's scholarship here.)
And now, for the first time, young editors from international publications have a similar opportunity. Trade, Association and Business Publications International will offer its own YLS scholarships to send young editors to the ASBPE show in Chicago. (Information and an application can be found here.)
If you're under 30-years old and working at a B2B publication that won't pay your way to the convention, fill out an application.
I'm serving on a panel at this year's ASBPE show. I hope to see you there.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Changing the economics of trade publishing
David Sifry has published part 2 of his State of the Blogosphere report, and everyone in B2B journalism should take a look.
Sifry, the founder and CEO of blog search engine Technorati, notes the rise of what he calls "the Magic Middle" -- bloggers that cover "topical or niche" areas and have 20-1000 other people linking to them. Sifry says about 155,000 people are members of the Magic Middle, and notes that they "in some cases are radically changing the economics of trade publishing."
Sifry singles out TechCrunch and Wi-Fi Net News as examples of influential blogs. And Sifry notes that these "Magic Middle" sites are often "interesting, exciting, informative, and witty." Given that this blog is part of the Magic Middle, I'll take that as a compliment.
For more on how new blog-based trade journalists are competing against established trade publishers, check out this post on the blog I share with Hershel Sarbin.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters, conversational media
Sifry, the founder and CEO of blog search engine Technorati, notes the rise of what he calls "the Magic Middle" -- bloggers that cover "topical or niche" areas and have 20-1000 other people linking to them. Sifry says about 155,000 people are members of the Magic Middle, and notes that they "in some cases are radically changing the economics of trade publishing."
Sifry singles out TechCrunch and Wi-Fi Net News as examples of influential blogs. And Sifry notes that these "Magic Middle" sites are often "interesting, exciting, informative, and witty." Given that this blog is part of the Magic Middle, I'll take that as a compliment.
For more on how new blog-based trade journalists are competing against established trade publishers, check out this post on the blog I share with Hershel Sarbin.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters, conversational media
Become a gathering place
B2B publications and B2B tradeshows have much in common. They use each other for ideas, sales leads and list building. Executives move back and forth between them. They sometimes share brand names and are often owned by the same companies.
And I think the future of B2B publications is in becoming more like B2B tradeshows.
Let me explain:
The real reason that most of us go to a tradeshow is to talk. We gossip, pitch and schmooze. Journalists go to B2B tradeshows to find sources. Salesmen go to find buyers. Job seekers look for job givers; bosses look for employees; boys look for girls and girls look for boys; newcomers look for mentors; old-timers look for young blood; everyone is looking for someone. We go to see, but we also go to be seen. We go to trade shows for the people.
Sure, the products are fun. And yes, some of the speakers are interesting. But for many of us, even the exhibit halls and lecture rooms are just places to talk. We look for the guy who made the product and quiz him on the specs. We grab the speaker after the lecture and hand him our business card.
Do you think I exaggerate? Consider this: would you go to tradeshow where you weren't allowed to talk? Assume that there would be new and innovative products on display. Assume that the keynote was to be delivered by someone well-known and respected. Assume that your friends, enemies, sources and prospects were all going to be there. But the rules of the tradeshow forbid you to speak.
Would you go?
A don't-speak-to-us model would never work for a B2B tradeshow.
Nor does it work for B2B magazines in the online era.
Yet few B2B magazines feel comfortable with allowing conversation. Feedback functions are the easiest way to create a conversation between readers and reporters. Yet few magazines have added them to their online stories. External links are the best way to foster conversation with other publications and bloggers. But there are still magazine Web sites that pretend they are all alone on the Internet.
Smart tradeshow executives know that a tradeshow is only a place. The lure is the community that gathers in it. And success comes from creating a show that fosters community.
Those of us in B2B publishing would be wise to follow that lead.
Sure, some of our articles are great. And yes, some of our product reviews are really interesting. But if you want readers to feel as if they belong, then you must let them build the community themselves.
One place where B2B publishing and B2B tradeshows intersect is in the blog of Sue Pelletier, editor of Medical Meetings magazine. And yesterday Sue pointed to this fascinating piece by Guy Kawasaki on building community. Among his suggestions -- welcome criticism and foster discourse.
In other words, let people talk.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media
And I think the future of B2B publications is in becoming more like B2B tradeshows.
Let me explain:
The real reason that most of us go to a tradeshow is to talk. We gossip, pitch and schmooze. Journalists go to B2B tradeshows to find sources. Salesmen go to find buyers. Job seekers look for job givers; bosses look for employees; boys look for girls and girls look for boys; newcomers look for mentors; old-timers look for young blood; everyone is looking for someone. We go to see, but we also go to be seen. We go to trade shows for the people.
Sure, the products are fun. And yes, some of the speakers are interesting. But for many of us, even the exhibit halls and lecture rooms are just places to talk. We look for the guy who made the product and quiz him on the specs. We grab the speaker after the lecture and hand him our business card.
Do you think I exaggerate? Consider this: would you go to tradeshow where you weren't allowed to talk? Assume that there would be new and innovative products on display. Assume that the keynote was to be delivered by someone well-known and respected. Assume that your friends, enemies, sources and prospects were all going to be there. But the rules of the tradeshow forbid you to speak.
Would you go?
A don't-speak-to-us model would never work for a B2B tradeshow.
Nor does it work for B2B magazines in the online era.
Yet few B2B magazines feel comfortable with allowing conversation. Feedback functions are the easiest way to create a conversation between readers and reporters. Yet few magazines have added them to their online stories. External links are the best way to foster conversation with other publications and bloggers. But there are still magazine Web sites that pretend they are all alone on the Internet.
Smart tradeshow executives know that a tradeshow is only a place. The lure is the community that gathers in it. And success comes from creating a show that fosters community.
Those of us in B2B publishing would be wise to follow that lead.
Sure, some of our articles are great. And yes, some of our product reviews are really interesting. But if you want readers to feel as if they belong, then you must let them build the community themselves.
One place where B2B publishing and B2B tradeshows intersect is in the blog of Sue Pelletier, editor of Medical Meetings magazine. And yesterday Sue pointed to this fascinating piece by Guy Kawasaki on building community. Among his suggestions -- welcome criticism and foster discourse.
In other words, let people talk.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Your audience is your competitor
The folks at Columbia Journalism Review have done a great job in exposing the very strange thought process of yet another established journalist with an inability to understand the blogging phenomenon.
Take a look. It's a fun piece that points out the flaws in a particularly poor piece from MarketWatch about business and finance bloggers.
But more interesting than the critique is that the CJR writer predicts a boom in business- and B2B-journalism blogs. "... in the future, we will see far more bloggers actually breaking the news -- especially the business news. Many business bloggers are insiders with real, if sometimes biased, knowledge of companies and industries. Moreover, the democracy of the blogosphere gives voice to genuine experts, many of them in esoteric fields that receive little attention from the mainstream media. For the first time, these people have an opportunity to share their world with us, and that adds up to a better informed public."
Readers of this blog know that I've predicted the rise of a new group of standalone B2B journalists in posts such as this and this and this. So I'm thrilled to see that CJR's staff also sees a future where the line between news source and news provider is blurred.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters, entrepreneurial journalism, standalone journalism
Take a look. It's a fun piece that points out the flaws in a particularly poor piece from MarketWatch about business and finance bloggers.
But more interesting than the critique is that the CJR writer predicts a boom in business- and B2B-journalism blogs. "... in the future, we will see far more bloggers actually breaking the news -- especially the business news. Many business bloggers are insiders with real, if sometimes biased, knowledge of companies and industries. Moreover, the democracy of the blogosphere gives voice to genuine experts, many of them in esoteric fields that receive little attention from the mainstream media. For the first time, these people have an opportunity to share their world with us, and that adds up to a better informed public."
Readers of this blog know that I've predicted the rise of a new group of standalone B2B journalists in posts such as this and this and this. So I'm thrilled to see that CJR's staff also sees a future where the line between news source and news provider is blurred.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters, entrepreneurial journalism, standalone journalism
Monday, February 13, 2006
A new blog for B2B journalists
An email today points me toward a new blog for B2B journalists.
The Kansas City chapter of the ASPBE has entered the blogosphere. Check out its site here.
Longtime readers of this blog know I think K.C. is the capital of trade publishing. So I'll be expecting big things from the new blog.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media
The Kansas City chapter of the ASPBE has entered the blogosphere. Check out its site here.
Longtime readers of this blog know I think K.C. is the capital of trade publishing. So I'll be expecting big things from the new blog.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media
Friday, February 10, 2006
Folio founder wins Crain Award
I've been running a little behind of late, and haven't had a chance to offer my congratulations to Joe Hanson, who has won ABM's Crain Award. The award is given yearly to an "individual who has made outstanding contributions to the development of editorial excellence in business media."
I've never had the chance to meet Joe. But everything I've heard about him indicates that the award is well-deserved.
You can read about Joe at the ABM site. Or you can read about him in this piece by Folio, the magazine he founded. (And speaking of running behind of late, I haven't had a chance to offer my congratulations to Folio on the new look and feel of its Web site. I'm particularly pleased to see that external links are appearing in tons of Folio articles!)
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters
I've never had the chance to meet Joe. But everything I've heard about him indicates that the award is well-deserved.
You can read about Joe at the ABM site. Or you can read about him in this piece by Folio, the magazine he founded. (And speaking of running behind of late, I haven't had a chance to offer my congratulations to Folio on the new look and feel of its Web site. I'm particularly pleased to see that external links are appearing in tons of Folio articles!)
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Mequoda picks best site designs
The Mequoda Group has published its list of the best designed media websites. And some of the winners will be of interest to readers of this blog.
Mequoda uses a 14-step system that grades both B2B and B2C sites on usability and appearance. And among the few sites to garner an "A" rating is Firehouse.com. Longtime readers of this blog know I'm a fan of Firehouse, (although I must confess that I find the site's design a little too busy for my taste.). Few sites have done a better job of engaging users as a community. (Disclosure: Firehouse is published by Cygnus Business Media, which hired me last year for a short-term consulting gig.)
Another B2B product that did well in the Mequoda survey was AdAge.com, which picked up a "B." I also like the look and feel of Ad Age, and I've been impressed with the video content and the site's use of photos and graphics. But I've made note before that the site has some fundamental problems with understanding the culture of the Web.
ComputerWorld picked up a "B" grade as well. (Disclosure: ComputerWorld is an IDG product, and IDG is also a client.) And although Mequoda says ComputerWorld could do with some help in "Relationship Building," I like what the magazine has done with blogs, while ABM likes what it has done with editorials and commentary. And those areas are key to building connections with readers.
Click here to see the full list of Mequoda's winners. You'll need to register to see many of the details, but there's some material available for free.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters
Mequoda uses a 14-step system that grades both B2B and B2C sites on usability and appearance. And among the few sites to garner an "A" rating is Firehouse.com. Longtime readers of this blog know I'm a fan of Firehouse, (although I must confess that I find the site's design a little too busy for my taste.). Few sites have done a better job of engaging users as a community. (Disclosure: Firehouse is published by Cygnus Business Media, which hired me last year for a short-term consulting gig.)
Another B2B product that did well in the Mequoda survey was AdAge.com, which picked up a "B." I also like the look and feel of Ad Age, and I've been impressed with the video content and the site's use of photos and graphics. But I've made note before that the site has some fundamental problems with understanding the culture of the Web.
ComputerWorld picked up a "B" grade as well. (Disclosure: ComputerWorld is an IDG product, and IDG is also a client.) And although Mequoda says ComputerWorld could do with some help in "Relationship Building," I like what the magazine has done with blogs, while ABM likes what it has done with editorials and commentary. And those areas are key to building connections with readers.
Click here to see the full list of Mequoda's winners. You'll need to register to see many of the details, but there's some material available for free.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
The start of something new
I've launched a new product that may be of interest to readers of this blog.
In recent months I've run into a lot of magazine executives and journalists who are fascinated with the blogosphere. Some of them sense that there is money to be made. Others are worried that bloggers are a threat they must respond to. Some recognize that blogging is a way to broaden the audience or to expand coverage. A tiny percentage see blogging as part of a wider and wonderful shift in media -- a move toward something more conversational and engaging, an evolution to user-driven, user-generated and user-controlled content.
And although interest in blogging has become widespread among magazine folks, expertise in blogging is rare. There are exceptions. There are good products from Variety, Wired, BusinessWeek and the now defunct CMO. But for every compelling product from a magazine, there are several that are just embarrassing.
I'll be talking about these issues at my latest venture, MagazineEnterprise360.
ME360 doesn't replace this blog. I'm going to do both.
That's because, as you'll see, although there is overlap, there are also some fundamental differences in focus and content.
Whereas this blog is a one-man show, ME360 is a product of my partnership with Hershel Sarbin, one of the most beloved and respected figures in magazine publishing.
And Hershel's expertise is part of the reason why the new blog will cover both B2B and B2C publishing, whereas this blog will maintain its focus on the great love of my career -- B2B journalism.
You'll also see ME360 and this blog have one major thing in common -- neither site accepts outside advertisers. I don't object to ads. But I don't believe they have a place in these products.
Take a look at ME360. Let me know what you think. In particular, share your thoughts on this post about what makes for a good blog by a magazine.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters, conversational media
Monday, February 06, 2006
Trouble for email newsletters
A little more than a month ago I wrote a piece saying I feared for the future of the email newsletter.
Now comes more bad news for publishers of those electronic products. AOL and Yahoo will begin charging a small fee to bulk emailers. Folks who pay will get preferential treatment. Folks that don't, won't.
Now let me be clear. I'm not suggesting that it's time for B2B publishers to abandon email newsletters. There is too much revenue attached to these things to walk away just yet. And I don't want to suggest that the AOL/Yahoo move is some sort of unmitigated horror (it's too early to tell.) But it should be clear by now to everyone that email newsletters are doomed. RSS is a vastly superior delivery system. And although it may take some time before your readers are ready to make the switch, you can be sure that they will make the switch.
So what am I suggesting?
Two things:
1) Make the only decision that you'll need to make about RSS -- full or partial feed -- and then offer RSS for all your content.
2) If any money in your budget is earmarked for doing anything with email newsletters, change your budget. Take the cash and use it for something else.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters
Now comes more bad news for publishers of those electronic products. AOL and Yahoo will begin charging a small fee to bulk emailers. Folks who pay will get preferential treatment. Folks that don't, won't.
Now let me be clear. I'm not suggesting that it's time for B2B publishers to abandon email newsletters. There is too much revenue attached to these things to walk away just yet. And I don't want to suggest that the AOL/Yahoo move is some sort of unmitigated horror (it's too early to tell.) But it should be clear by now to everyone that email newsletters are doomed. RSS is a vastly superior delivery system. And although it may take some time before your readers are ready to make the switch, you can be sure that they will make the switch.
So what am I suggesting?
Two things:
1) Make the only decision that you'll need to make about RSS -- full or partial feed -- and then offer RSS for all your content.
2) If any money in your budget is earmarked for doing anything with email newsletters, change your budget. Take the cash and use it for something else.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Is your staff angry?
The feedback function on this blog requires that I approve a comment before it appears on the site. I added that extra degree of protection a few weeks ago after an influx of spam.
That seemed a reasonable measure, and one that I am glad I took.
But this week a different sort of comment appeared in my in-box, awaiting approval. And although I opted not to publish it, I'm not convinced I made the right move.
First, I should note that the comment contained some foul language. And one of my rules is that I don't publish obscenities. But even if the language in the comment had been clean, I doubt I would have published it.
It came from a former editor at a well-known B2B publisher. He wanted to tell me and the readers of this blog what he thought about his former bosses. And none of what he thought about them was good. He complained that the editorial department was underfunded. He complained about unprofessionalism, cronyism and long hours.
Most of his complaints were vague. "Management ...firmly believes that the editorial product is secondary - and it shows" and that the "editorial staff suffers at the expense of the almighty sales staff."
But some of the complaints were more specific. He gave the names of some senior staff and said that they engaged in unethical and unprofessional behavior. He also gave the names of a number of editors that he claims have left the company in outrage.
My first reaction was as a journalist. I read the comment as if it were a story. And although that may not be a fair way to judge a comment, it was clear to me that this "story" wasn't publishable. It contained a number of unsubstantiated personal attacks but not a single provable fact. And I knew that neither I nor the editor who wrote it would have published it in a magazine -- either as a story, an opinion piece or a letter to the editor -- if it had come from a source in a company we covered.
My second reaction was as an ENFJ personality type. ENFJs are teachers by nature. We have a parental style. We tend to engage in mentoring relationships. And I found myself wanting to protect the writer of the comment from himself. The comment made him look weak, foolish, overly emotional and childish. And I knew that publishing it would hurt his career.
So what's the lesson in this?
First, be cautious about what you put in writing. It's unlikely that you want to be known in your chosen profession as a bitter and nasty person...even if bitterness and nastiness are justified.
Second, if you're in management, ask yourself honestly if you know what morale is like on your staff. Have the talented people you hired become angry children on your watch? Is it your fault? What is the effect on people's feelings, not just on the balance sheet, when you make a decision? And then ask yourself if it's possible, even likely, that the comment I opted not to publish was about you.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Feedback on feedback
Almost every journalist I have ever known is incapable of being objective about his own skill level. And even the least talented journalist in a newsroom tends to think he has mastered his craft. But every once in awhile I have the distinct pleasure of meeting a reporter who wants to get better at his job.
The advice that I give such ambitious reporters is to ask their readers for help.
Putting a feedback function at the bottom a story, I tell them, is the single best way I know for a reporter to get better at what he does. Readers will tell you when you've got something wrong and when you've done something right. Readers will tell you when you've missed something important or found something interesting. Readers will tell you when you're on the right track or heading in the wrong direction.
I've been very pleased to see BusinessWeek's use of feedback functions. And in some stories, such as this one, the input from readers enhances the work of the writer. But I've been disappointed to find that while feedback functions are becoming more common in the mainstream press, they have not caught on in B2B. The message I keep hearing from B2B executives and journalists is that they expect the worst from the readers -- rants and viciousness and inaccuracies. I understand that fear. I've seen how a feedback function can turn on you. But I believe the advantages outweigh the risks. And I believe that the advantages are greater for a B2B publication than for any other product -- because a B2B audience by definition is filled with people who have the specialized knowledge to improve a story.
Rich Skrenta, the CEO of Topix.net, recently added feedback functions to the stories on his news aggregation site. He's "astonished" by the level of participation and says that many readers are posting "first-person accounts of news events from across the country" that are often "raw" and "heart-wrenching."
Read what Rich has to say. Ask yourself when was the last time you were "astonished" by anything at your publication.
Then ask yourself when you're going to let your audience help you create a better product.
ADDENDUM: A beta version of Yahoo's news service is also offering a feedback function. Take a look.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters
The advice that I give such ambitious reporters is to ask their readers for help.
Putting a feedback function at the bottom a story, I tell them, is the single best way I know for a reporter to get better at what he does. Readers will tell you when you've got something wrong and when you've done something right. Readers will tell you when you've missed something important or found something interesting. Readers will tell you when you're on the right track or heading in the wrong direction.
I've been very pleased to see BusinessWeek's use of feedback functions. And in some stories, such as this one, the input from readers enhances the work of the writer. But I've been disappointed to find that while feedback functions are becoming more common in the mainstream press, they have not caught on in B2B. The message I keep hearing from B2B executives and journalists is that they expect the worst from the readers -- rants and viciousness and inaccuracies. I understand that fear. I've seen how a feedback function can turn on you. But I believe the advantages outweigh the risks. And I believe that the advantages are greater for a B2B publication than for any other product -- because a B2B audience by definition is filled with people who have the specialized knowledge to improve a story.
Rich Skrenta, the CEO of Topix.net, recently added feedback functions to the stories on his news aggregation site. He's "astonished" by the level of participation and says that many readers are posting "first-person accounts of news events from across the country" that are often "raw" and "heart-wrenching."
Read what Rich has to say. Ask yourself when was the last time you were "astonished" by anything at your publication.
Then ask yourself when you're going to let your audience help you create a better product.
ADDENDUM: A beta version of Yahoo's news service is also offering a feedback function. Take a look.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters
Friday, January 27, 2006
The best among us
Today is a good day to be in B2B journalism.
The finalists for ABM's Neal Awards have been announced, and that gives us the opportunity to see just how good we can be. Take a look at the list. Pat yourself on the back if any product you work on is a finalist.
I'm thrilled to see that some of my favorite B2B publications are in the finals -- Fleet Owner, National Jeweler and IDG/CXO Media's CSO, CIO and CFO.
As you glance through the list, you'll note bittersweetly that CMO made the cut in several categories, including best single issue. It's old news now that CMO is no more....but I'm hoping the magazine can pick up a few posthumous honors.
But I have to admit that I'm perplexed by one of the finalists.
Porkmag.com is on the list for best Web site with fewer than 25,000 unique visitors a month. (Full Disclosure: I was once a senior writer at Porkmag's parent company, Vance Publishing.) But Porkmag has few of the things that make for a compelling Web site. Although there are occasional audio files from Vance's new radio property, the site is largely a collection of black text on white background. It looks like a newspaper on a computer screen. Actually, it looks worse, because a newspaper would have photos. And there is no interactivity -- no links, no feedback functions. The news section is just a news feed. The magazine material isn't repurposed and there's nothing original that I see.
I know that the journalists of Vance can do better than this. That company is full of talented people. And I expect the product will improve. But for now, I don't see why the site should be on the finalist list.
If you're willing to put up with a registration process, take a look and see if you agree.
Then compare it with some of the other finalists at E&P and CIO.
For Matt McAlister's take on one of the finalists, look here.
For David Shaw's take on the finalists, look here. (And a special thanks to David for pointing out something I missed in my first look through the list -- Hammock Publishing, owned by Rex of Rexblog, is one of the finalists.)
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters
The finalists for ABM's Neal Awards have been announced, and that gives us the opportunity to see just how good we can be. Take a look at the list. Pat yourself on the back if any product you work on is a finalist.
I'm thrilled to see that some of my favorite B2B publications are in the finals -- Fleet Owner, National Jeweler and IDG/CXO Media's CSO, CIO and CFO.
As you glance through the list, you'll note bittersweetly that CMO made the cut in several categories, including best single issue. It's old news now that CMO is no more....but I'm hoping the magazine can pick up a few posthumous honors.
But I have to admit that I'm perplexed by one of the finalists.
Porkmag.com is on the list for best Web site with fewer than 25,000 unique visitors a month. (Full Disclosure: I was once a senior writer at Porkmag's parent company, Vance Publishing.) But Porkmag has few of the things that make for a compelling Web site. Although there are occasional audio files from Vance's new radio property, the site is largely a collection of black text on white background. It looks like a newspaper on a computer screen. Actually, it looks worse, because a newspaper would have photos. And there is no interactivity -- no links, no feedback functions. The news section is just a news feed. The magazine material isn't repurposed and there's nothing original that I see.
I know that the journalists of Vance can do better than this. That company is full of talented people. And I expect the product will improve. But for now, I don't see why the site should be on the finalist list.
If you're willing to put up with a registration process, take a look and see if you agree.
Then compare it with some of the other finalists at E&P and CIO.
For Matt McAlister's take on one of the finalists, look here.
For David Shaw's take on the finalists, look here. (And a special thanks to David for pointing out something I missed in my first look through the list -- Hammock Publishing, owned by Rex of Rexblog, is one of the finalists.)
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Misunderstanding all you see
Every once in awhile someone says something about the differences between magazines and the online world that I find to be shockingly out of touch. That's my reaction to a new essay by Bruce Sheiman in min online (there's no permalink for the piece, but it can be found here for at least awhile.)
Sheiman seems to be defending print magazines from some unseen enemy. And he argues that information on the Web is "fragmented, overwhelming, and unfathomable."
I first saw the piece a few days ago, when a magazine editor I know in Kansas City sent it to me. That editor said he could find no value in what Bruce wrote, and wanted to know if I could.
Here are some excerpts from the email I sent back to that editor:
"He (Sheiman) states that a "search engine is not an editor," and implies that this is some sort of shortcoming. That's silly. A search engine is a search engine. An editor is an editor. And one of a search engine's functions is, arguably, to point readers to the work of editors.
But more importantly, a search engine has some editor-like functions. And of course, there are other Web-based tools such as RSS with even stronger editor-like functions.
And most importantly, he misses the biggest point of all -- the Web allows a user to assume the editing role himself. Sure, a professional editor has some value. But that value has clearly been diminished in a world where I can create my own "magazine" on Bloglines with information from 100 sources in about 5 minutes. My "magazine" will tell me when it's updated. It will allow me to talk back to the writers. And I can share it with my friends."
and
"In a sense, Sheiman understands the branding and identity functions of magazines. But he chooses the easy and obvious examples. And that makes me think he hasn't thought this through.
I mean really, he says a business person's identity is reinforced by reading BusinessWeek in print. Sure. OK. No kidding. But has he seen what has happened to BusinessWeek in the past year? It's become the single most interactive magazine on the Web! Its print edition has become an afterthought. And most interestingly, BusinessWeek has talked about these changes in a public blog. But I'd bet that he hasn't even seen it."
Colin Crawford, vice president for business development at IDG, also came across Sheiman's piece. The essay and Colin's response can be found here.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters
Sheiman seems to be defending print magazines from some unseen enemy. And he argues that information on the Web is "fragmented, overwhelming, and unfathomable."
I first saw the piece a few days ago, when a magazine editor I know in Kansas City sent it to me. That editor said he could find no value in what Bruce wrote, and wanted to know if I could.
Here are some excerpts from the email I sent back to that editor:
"He (Sheiman) states that a "search engine is not an editor," and implies that this is some sort of shortcoming. That's silly. A search engine is a search engine. An editor is an editor. And one of a search engine's functions is, arguably, to point readers to the work of editors.
But more importantly, a search engine has some editor-like functions. And of course, there are other Web-based tools such as RSS with even stronger editor-like functions.
And most importantly, he misses the biggest point of all -- the Web allows a user to assume the editing role himself. Sure, a professional editor has some value. But that value has clearly been diminished in a world where I can create my own "magazine" on Bloglines with information from 100 sources in about 5 minutes. My "magazine" will tell me when it's updated. It will allow me to talk back to the writers. And I can share it with my friends."
and
"In a sense, Sheiman understands the branding and identity functions of magazines. But he chooses the easy and obvious examples. And that makes me think he hasn't thought this through.
I mean really, he says a business person's identity is reinforced by reading BusinessWeek in print. Sure. OK. No kidding. But has he seen what has happened to BusinessWeek in the past year? It's become the single most interactive magazine on the Web! Its print edition has become an afterthought. And most interestingly, BusinessWeek has talked about these changes in a public blog. But I'd bet that he hasn't even seen it."
Colin Crawford, vice president for business development at IDG, also came across Sheiman's piece. The essay and Colin's response can be found here.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Global awards for B2B
If you're a talented journalist with an international flare, it's time to toot your own horn.
Trade, Association and Business Publications International, the global association of B2B publishers, is accepting nominees for its Tabbie awards.
The Tabbies, which recognize excellence in both editorial and design, are promoted by a number of trade associations, including ASBPE here in the U.S. and the Magazine Publishers Association of New Zealand.
If you believe as I do that our industry is growing increasingly global, then you'll understand that your competitors will increasingly include rivals from overseas. So the Tabbies are worth following if only to gauge just how good your new competition can be.
For information on last year's winners, take a look at this earlier post.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters
Trade, Association and Business Publications International, the global association of B2B publishers, is accepting nominees for its Tabbie awards.
The Tabbies, which recognize excellence in both editorial and design, are promoted by a number of trade associations, including ASBPE here in the U.S. and the Magazine Publishers Association of New Zealand.
If you believe as I do that our industry is growing increasingly global, then you'll understand that your competitors will increasingly include rivals from overseas. So the Tabbies are worth following if only to gauge just how good your new competition can be.
For information on last year's winners, take a look at this earlier post.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters
Monday, January 23, 2006
Dealing with unwanted comments
The CBS blog linked to something I wrote last week. And that link led me to look at CBS' entry in the blogosphere for the first time.
And what I found concerned me.
The post that mentions me is fine. Most of the posts on the blog are fine. Things are well written. There is a degree of the inside-the-newsroom talk that I like to see in mainstream media blogs. But the comments to the post were disconcerting. Take a look.
None of the comments are about the actual post. Instead, the readers apparently used the blog's comment function to complain about CBS' coverage of the president. Now there's nothing all that unusual about off-topic comments. They happen. Just like comment spam happens. And every blogger has to develop a plan to deal with them. (Note: Comments to this blog are moderated. Nothing is posted unless I approve it. I screen out spam, crazy people, most off-topic posts and foul language. Until a few weeks ago, I didn't moderate comments, but a sudden slew of comment spam prompted me to change my mind.)
But a look around the CBS blog indicates that off-topic comments are everywhere! The blog, it appears, has become a place for CBS' many critics to dump their anger.
And although allowing for customer feedback is a function of a blog, I suspect that the folks at CBS must be disappointed to find that fury has become the norm.
Just days after I made note of CBS' comment woes, the Washington Post announced that it was closing the comment function on one of its blogs following an outpouring of inappropriate comments. It's an unfortunate move, but one that I understand. I've gone back and forth on allowing comments on this blog several times.
Nonetheless I can't help but feel that between those two major media players, it is CBS that has taken the wiser course by opting not to silence the angry customers.
More importantly, I worry that B2B publishers will use the Washington Post problem as an excuse to avoid adding comment functions. I'm convinced that would be a huge mistake. I'd rather put up with a hundred screaming fools than silence a single insightful reader.
For more on the Washington Post issue and the questions it raises about feedback functions and conversational media, look at this piece from Poynter. Then read this piece on Susan Mernit's blog and follow the links to additional conversation.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media
And what I found concerned me.
The post that mentions me is fine. Most of the posts on the blog are fine. Things are well written. There is a degree of the inside-the-newsroom talk that I like to see in mainstream media blogs. But the comments to the post were disconcerting. Take a look.
None of the comments are about the actual post. Instead, the readers apparently used the blog's comment function to complain about CBS' coverage of the president. Now there's nothing all that unusual about off-topic comments. They happen. Just like comment spam happens. And every blogger has to develop a plan to deal with them. (Note: Comments to this blog are moderated. Nothing is posted unless I approve it. I screen out spam, crazy people, most off-topic posts and foul language. Until a few weeks ago, I didn't moderate comments, but a sudden slew of comment spam prompted me to change my mind.)
But a look around the CBS blog indicates that off-topic comments are everywhere! The blog, it appears, has become a place for CBS' many critics to dump their anger.
And although allowing for customer feedback is a function of a blog, I suspect that the folks at CBS must be disappointed to find that fury has become the norm.
Just days after I made note of CBS' comment woes, the Washington Post announced that it was closing the comment function on one of its blogs following an outpouring of inappropriate comments. It's an unfortunate move, but one that I understand. I've gone back and forth on allowing comments on this blog several times.
Nonetheless I can't help but feel that between those two major media players, it is CBS that has taken the wiser course by opting not to silence the angry customers.
More importantly, I worry that B2B publishers will use the Washington Post problem as an excuse to avoid adding comment functions. I'm convinced that would be a huge mistake. I'd rather put up with a hundred screaming fools than silence a single insightful reader.
For more on the Washington Post issue and the questions it raises about feedback functions and conversational media, look at this piece from Poynter. Then read this piece on Susan Mernit's blog and follow the links to additional conversation.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Don't blink or you'll miss it
I expect that sometime in the not-too-distant future, we won't spend as much time worrying about Web site design as we do now. Content is separating from its containers. Thus the containers are growing less important.
That's not to say that we should abandon all efforts at creating a beautiful site. I still like things that are pretty and clean. I still enjoy a site where the layout and navigation make sense to me. And a new study seems to suggest that the visual appearance of a site is more important that many writers would like to believe. Canadian researchers said that Web site visitors make "aesthetic judgments that influence the rest of their experience with an Internet site" in less than 1/20th of a second.
In other words, a first-time visitor will decide whether or not to hit the backspace key in less than the blink of an eye. "So Web designers have to make sure they're not offending users visually," one of the researchers told Reuters.
I've written about some of the uglier sites in B2B before. Take a look, and if your eyes can handle it, follow the links. And if you're some sort of visual masochist, take a look at this text-heavy monster or this cluttered mess.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters
That's not to say that we should abandon all efforts at creating a beautiful site. I still like things that are pretty and clean. I still enjoy a site where the layout and navigation make sense to me. And a new study seems to suggest that the visual appearance of a site is more important that many writers would like to believe. Canadian researchers said that Web site visitors make "aesthetic judgments that influence the rest of their experience with an Internet site" in less than 1/20th of a second.
In other words, a first-time visitor will decide whether or not to hit the backspace key in less than the blink of an eye. "So Web designers have to make sure they're not offending users visually," one of the researchers told Reuters.
I've written about some of the uglier sites in B2B before. Take a look, and if your eyes can handle it, follow the links. And if you're some sort of visual masochist, take a look at this text-heavy monster or this cluttered mess.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, advertising, newsletters
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